Cigarette making machines

ABSTRACT

A cigarette making machine includes a suction band passing around upper and lower pulleys and being arranged to move upwards substantially vertically in a region where tobacco is showered on to it by means of an air stream moving towards the band to build up a cigarette filler stream on the band, the filler stream being transferred from the band to a wrapper web by a transfer conveyor near the bottom of the downward run of the band. A trimmer is disposed along the downward run of the band to trim the filler stream to a desired height.

atent I 1 Dec. 3, 1974 1 CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINES [75] Inventor: Francis Auguste Maurice Labbe,

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 28, 1971 Great Britain 35514/71 [52] US. Cl 131/84 C, 131/110, 131/146, 198/121 [51] Int. Cl. A24c 05/18 [58] Field of Search 198/121, 230; 131/23 A, 131/84 R, 84 B, 84 C, 110, 109, 108, 146

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 956,816 5/1910 Mogg et al 198/121 3,030,965 4/1962 Labbe 131/146 X 3,039,473 6/1962 Schubert 131/110 X 3,297,040 l/1967 Gamberini 131/84 C Wilde 131/84 B 3,645,273 2/1972 Richter 131/110 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 953,791 4/1964 Great Britain 131/110 1,138,616 1/1969 Great Britain.... 131/146 1,106,498 3/1968 Great Britain 131/84 B Primary Examiner.loseph S. Reich Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Craig & Antonelli [5 7] ABSTRACT A cigarette making machine includes a suction band passing around upper and lower pulleys and being arranged to move upwards substantially vertically in a region where tobacco is showered on to it by means of an air stream moving towards the band to build up a cigarette filler stream on the band, the filler stream being transferred from the band to a wrapper web by a transfer conveyor near the bottom of the downward run of the band. A trimmer is disposed along the downward run of the band to trim the tiller stream to a desired height.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures In this specification the term cigarette will be used with the intention that it should be regarded as including other similar articles for smoking. The term tobacco" will be used with the intention that it should be regarded as including any material or mixture of materials which may be used to form the filler of a cigarette or other similar article for smoking.

British Pats. Nos. 854,736 to 854,738 described a cigarette making machine in which the tobacco stream forming the cigarette filler stream is built up by showering tobacco by means of an air stream on to a suction band moving substantially in a horizontal direction; the suction band carries the filler stream on to a continuous wrapperweb in which the stream is enclosed to form a continuous cigarette rod. US. Pat. Appln. Ser. No. 46,596 filed June 16, 1970 now US. Pat. No. 3,750,678, issued Aug. 7, 1974, describes an improved arrangement in which the filler stream formed on the suction band is transferred on to the web by means of a transfer wheel.

I have now realised that, when showering tobacco towards a suction band by means of an air stream, there is no need for the band to be substantially horizontal. It can instead be inclined to the horizontal by a substantial angle and can even be approximately vertical, especially if the filler stream formed on the band is transferred on to the wrapper web by means of a transfer wheel in accordance with the last-mentioned patent application, which is the preferred arrangement. Inclining the band to the horizontal enables the length of the machine as a whole to be reduced.

According to one aspect of this invention, a cigarette making machine forms a filler stream by showering tobacco on to a band moving upwards or downwards along a path inclined to the horizontal by an angle at least of the order of 45.

According to another aspect of this invention a cigarette making machine has a suction band arranged to move upwards in the region where tobacco is showered on to it by means of an air stream moving towards the band to build up a cigarette filler stream on the band, and the tiller stream is transferred from the band to the wrapper web by a transfer wheel (or other conveyor near the bottom of the downward run of the band, preferably after trimming the tiller stream while it is on the downward run of the band.

Preferably the tiller stream leaves the band before the band reaches the bottom pulley. Thus the filler stream need only pass round one pulley (i.e., the top pulley) while it is being carried by the suction band. The bottom pulley can then readily be made movable in the direction necessary to tension the band.

If the band is vertical or approximately so, the channel through which the tobacco is showered on to the band may be approximately horizontal. In the case of an exactly horizontal channel, the upwardly moving run of the band is preferably inclined to the vertical in the direction such that tobacco moving horizontally towards the band through the channel has a component of velocity in the direction of movement of the band. inclining the band to the vertical in that sense moreover helps to keep the lower pulley well clear of the wrapper web passing below it.

The tobacco may be delivered to the shower channel in the form of a carpet formed in accordance with our British Pat. No. 1,192,177.

There is preferably a cover over the part of the band which carries the filler stream, with suction pressure within the cover at least equal to the suction pressure in the shower channel in the region near the band; this last suction pressure, in the case of a preferred machine with a supercharger (i.e., according to British Pat. No. 916,141), is determined mainly by the supercharger fan. There is then no need for a flap seal onto the filler stream at the point where it leaves the shower channel.

This last feature is the subject of U.S. Pat. Appln. 190549 filed Oct. 19, 1971. It is, however, especially useful in a machine with a substantially vertical band according to the present invention. Preferably, as described in the last-mentioned patent application, the machine includes a trough for receiving the showered tobacco, the trough having a narrow part adjacent to the band which is just deep enough to receive the normal quantity of showered tobacco. Any momentary excess is received in a wider part of the trough and tends not to be held on the band. This excess tobacco can be carried forward by air, first in an upward direction and then, after passing round the top pulley, in a downward direction. The downward motion can be used to carry the excess tobacco towards an outlet through which it can be removed together with tobacco which is separated from the tobacco stream on the band by a trimmer. This will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The assembly comprising the suction chamber (i.e. within the band), the band, and the pulleys round which the band passes, is preferably mounted so that it can be rotated about a horizontal pivot axis at or near the center of gravity of the assembly and parallel to the pulley axes to lower the upper end of the band and thus facilitate access to the whole band. This pivotal motion may possibly have to be preceded by a horizontal sliding motion of the whole assembly along the pivot axes. The pivot axis may coincide with the axis of a pipe through which the suction chamber is connected to a suction fan; indeed the pipe may form part of the pivot bearing. I

Examples of machines according to this invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. In these drawmgs:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of part of one machine;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view on the line 11-1] in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view on the line Ill-III in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a different machine.

FIG. I shows part of a cigarette making machine in which tobacco is showered horizontally by means of air through a horizontal shower channel 2 and towards the upwardly moving run of an air-pervious band 4. Thus a filler stream is built up on the band and this is held on the band by suction applied through the band from a suction chamber 6. The band moves upwards atan angle of about 14 to the vertical, passes round a top pulley 8, moves downwards at a slightly greater angle to the vertical, and returns round a bottom pulley 10. Near the bottom of the downward run of the band (in fact just as the band reaches the bottom pulley the filler stream is removed from the band by a suction transfer wheel 12 which delivers the stream on ma continuous wrapper web 14, in the manner described more particularly in my copending application Ser. No. 275,636, filed July 27, 1972.

Most of the air which carries the tobacco through the shower channel 2 may be produced by a supercharger fan (not shown) which draws air through a louvre port 16 in one wall of the channel in the manner described generally in British Pat. No. 916,141.

Part of the filler stream formed on the band is trimmed away by a trimmer 18 which moves towards and away from the band so as to trim off a variable amount of tobacco in response to a conventional weight control system (not shown). The trimmer 18 is housed in a box 20 from which the trimmed off tobacco is removed through a pipe 22 connected to a source of suction. For this purpose the tobacco removed by the trimmer falls into a trough 20A at the bottom of the box 20. At one end of the trough there is a venturishaped opening not shown, to atmosphere through which air enters as a high-speed jet to carry the discard tobacco through the trough and straight into the pipe 22, which at its inlet end forms an extension to the trough.

The interior of the box 20 communicates with one end of a cover space 24 which is defined partly by a cover 26 extending from the top left corner of the channel 2 to the box 20 (see FIG. l). At the end adjacent to the shower channel 2, the cover space 24 leads into the channel without any flap seal or other mechanical seal onto the tobacco stream. The suction pressure in the cover space 24 (determined partly by the suction applied through the band from the suction chamber 6 and partly by the suction applied through the pipe 22) could be approximately equal to the suction pressure in the adjoining region of the channel 2 so that there is substantially no air flow through the end 24A of the cover space. Preferably, however, the suction pressure in the cover space 24 is slightly greater than the suction pressure in the channel 2 so as to draw in air from the channel through the end 24A of the cover space 24.

As shown in FIG. 2, the filler stream 28 is conveyed by the suction band 4 between fixed side rails 30. These side rails are extensions of the rails which form the sides of a trough into which the tobacco is showered through the channel 2. In accordance with the invention described in British Pat. No. 914,821, the trough has a narrow part of substantially constant width (in cross-section) up to a distance from the band sufficient to receive substantially all the tobacco which is normally showered into the trough; any momentary excess of tobacco lies in a wider part of the trough and is subject to less suctional compression. As shown in FIG. 2 of the present application, the rails 30 have parallel inner surfaces 30A and recessed parts 303.

As already mentioned, there is preferably an air flow into the cover space 24 from the channel 2. The crosssection of the cover space 24 (shown in FIG. 2) is relatively small from the channel 2 to the region of the pulley 8, so that a relatively fast air stream can be produced in the cover space 24. This air stream may be such as to carry forward through the cover space 24 any substantial momentary excess of tobacco which projects out of the narrow part of the trough. After leaving the main body of tobacco, the excess tobacco entrained in the air stream passes upwards through the cover space 24, round the pulley and then down the cover space 24 and into the trough 20A of the box 20. Thus theexcess tobacco is carried away with the tobacco removed by the trimmer 18.

Instead of the excess tobacco being removed mainly or partly from the main body of the tiller stream by means of an air stream in the cover space 24, it may be removed mainly or partly by centrifugal force as the filler stream passes round the pulley 8. In other words, excess tobacco which is held on the band by suction up to the pulley is thrown off by centrifugal force. In this case there may be little or no air flow through the cover space 24.

It should be noted that as the cover space 24 extends downwards from the pulley 8 to the box 20 (and is even inclined so that the cover is slightly below the filler stream on the band) gravity does not tend to return the excess tobacco to the main stream of tobacco on the band.

As shown in FIG. 2, the suction chamber 6 is defined partly by front and back walls 32 formed with lips 32A which support the band 4. There are slots 36 at regular intervals between the walls 32 and the rails 30, on both sides of the band, to admit air which flows inwards above and below the band so as to clear away, as far as possible, any particles of tobacco which may be caught between the band and the surfaces of the members 30 and 32 which guide the band.

Between the cover 26 and the rails 30 there are slots 34 at regular intervals on both sides to let in air to the cover space 24. The dimensions of the slots are such as to let in the necessary volume of air at various positions along the cover space.

FIG. 3 shows that the pulley 8 comprises side walls 8A and 8B which lie between the fixed walls 32 of the suction chamber. The sides of the filler stream are confined by extensions of the fixed rails 30, which in the vicinity of the pulley have parallel inner surfaces like those shown in FIG. 2, but no recessed parts.

Extensions of the rails 30 continue all the way to the transfer wheel 12 to confine the sides of the filler stream. There may also be further fixed extensions to confine the sides of the filler stream while on the transfer wheel. Alternatively, the transfer wheel may have a peripheral. groove which receives substantially the whole depth of the filler stream; a further possibility is that the transfer wheel may have a relatively shallow peripheral groove, and the radially outer part of the filler stream on the transfer wheel may be confined between stationary rails.

Details of the manner in which the wheel 12 transfers the tobacco stream from the band 4 to the wrapper web 14 are described in the above-referenced U.S. application Ser. No. 275,636.

The band 4 may be formed in various ways. For example, it may be of woven nylon. Alternatively it may be of integral perforated metal, for example stainless steel; in this case the edges of the band may be formed with recesses or projections to engage positively with projections or recesses on whichever of the pulleys 8 and 10 is driven, thus providing a positive drive instead of a frictional drive.

To facilitate access to the whole band, and particularly the part extending round the pulley 8, the whole assembly comprising the suction chamber 6, the pulleys 8 and 10 and the band 4 is carried via a horizontal pipe 36A through which suction is supplied to the suction chamber 6. A conventional pivot bearing 36B including ball bearings may be provided around the pipe 36A allow the assembly to be moved horizontally in the direction of the pipe, after which the assembly can be swung about the axis of the pipe to an approximately horizontal position. As seen in FIG. 1, the bearings 36B have their center or axis located substantially at the center of gravity of the illustrated apparatus and the bearings axis is parallel with the axes of the pulleys 8 and 10.

The tobacco may be delivered into the shower channel 2 in the form of a carpet by means of a carpet forming system basically as described in British Pat. No. 1,192,177. FIG. 4 shows diagrammatically a specific arrangement of such a carpet forming system.

As in FIG. 1, tobacco is showered by means of air through a horizontal channel 40 so as to form on a band 42 a filler stream which is transferred to a wrapper web 44 by a suction wheel 45 after being trimmed by a trimmer 46.

The tobacco is delivered initially in a fast-moving air stream through a pipe 48 from a primary unit (not shown) in which the tobacco is, for example, loosened and winnowed. The pipe 48 fans out at 50 to a wide flat section 52 and may be slightly curved along the widening part 50 as viewed from above, and possibly also for some distance before the part 50, so that centrifugal force spreads the tobacco across the whole width of the pipe section 52, which serves as the inlet to an air separator 54. As described in British Pat. No. 1,192,177, the tobacco passing into the separator is deflected by a curved deflector 54A and passes out through a tobacco outlet 56 while air is extracted by a suction fan (not shown) through an air outlet 58. The tobacco delivered from the outlet 56 piles up in a channel 60 between two bands 62 and 64 and is conveyed away by the bands in the form of a relatively slow-moving carpet towards a conventional carded roller 66 which, together with a picker roller and fast-revolving projector roller (not shown), projects the tobacco into the shower channel 40. The tobacco carpet, while being carried by the roller 66, may be held on the roller with the aid of a fixed plate (not shown) extending part of the way around the roller and spaced therefrom.

As an alternative the outlet 56 from the air separator may lead straight into the shower channel 40. A further possibility is that the flat pipe section 52 may lead straight into the shower channel.

One of the bands 62 and 64 may be replaced by a fixed wall.

The carpebforming system shown in FIG. 4 may be used with a different orientation. For example, it may be tilted so as to form a carpet moving at an inclination to the horizontal. It may even be turned through 90' so as to form a horizontal carpet which can be projected upwards into a substantially vertical shower channel.

The tobacco removed by the trimmer 18 may be sucked away (as in FIG. 1) through a pipe 66, and this pipe may deliver the tobacco back into the pipe 48, as shown by the dotted lines.

An alternative carpet-forming system which may be used in connection with the present invention is described in my copending application Ser. No. 275,635 filed July 27, 1972.

What we claim is:

1. In a cigarette making machine, a filler stream forming arrangement comprising an upper pulley and a lower pulley; an air pervious band arranged to move around the pulleys and having an upwardly moving run moving from the lower pulley to the upper pulley, and a downwardly moving run moving from the upper pulley to the lower pulley; a suction chamber between the two runs of the band for applying suction through the band to hold tobacco on the band; means for feeding tobacco towards the upwardly moving run of the band to build up a cigarette filler stream on the band, means supplying a continuous wrapper web near the bottom of the downwardly moving run of the band for enclosing the cigarette filler stream; and a transfer conveyor adjacent to the lower pulley arranged to receive the cigarette filler stream from the band, the tiller stream being transferred from the band to the wrapper web by the transfer conveyor near the bottom of the downwardly moving. run of the band.

2. A machine according to claim 1 in which the transfer conveyor comprises a wheel including suction means for applying suction to the filler stream.

3. A machine according to claim 1 including means defining a horizontally extending channel through which the tobacco is fed towards theband.

4. A machine according to claim 3 in which the upwardly moving run of the band is inclined to the vertical in a direction such that tobacco moving horizontally through the shower channel has a component of velocity in the direction of movement on the band.

5. A machine according to claim 1 in which the band, the pulleys round which the band passes, and said suction chamber within the band to hold the filler stream on the band by suction forms an assembly having rotatable mounting means with a horizontal pivot axis substantially at the center of gravity of the assembly and parallel to the pulley axes for lowering the upper pulley and the upper region of the band to facilitate access to the assembly.

6. A machine according to claim 5, in which said mounting means comprises axially slideable parts permitting the assembly to slide horizontally along the pivot axis, the assembly being rotatable about the pivot axisafter such horizontal sliding.

7. A machine according to claim 5, including a suction fan and a pipe through which the suction chamber is connected to the suction fan, the pipe having an axis coincident with the pivot axis. the trimmed filler 8 A machine according to claim 7 in which the pipe is contained within a pivot bearing.

9. A cigarette making machine comprising an airpervious band arranged to run around upper and lower pulleys and having an upwardly moving run and a downwardly moving run, means defining a substantially horizontal channel extending towards the upwardly moving run of the band, pneumatic means for showering tobacco through the channel and towards the band to build up a cigarette filler stream on the band, suction means for applying suction through the band to hold the tiller stream on the band, trimming means adjacent to the downwardly moving run of the band for trimming the filler stream, means supplying a continuous wrapper web near said lower pulley for enclosing the cigarette filler stream, and a suction wheel for receiving the trimmed stream from the band before the band begins to return around the lower pulley, and for carrying the said trimmed filler stream onto the wrapper web. 

1. In a cigarette making machine, a filler stream forming arrangement comprising an upper pulley and a lower pulley; an air pervious band arranged to move around the pulleys and having an upwardly moving run moving from the lower pulley to the upper pulley, and a downwardly moving run moving from the upper pulley to the lower pulley; a suction chamber between the two runs of the band for applying suction through the band to hold tobacco on the band; means for feeding tobacco towards the upwardly moving run of the band to build up a cigarette filler stream on the band, means supplying a continuous wrapper web near the bottom of the downwardly moving run of the band for enclosing the cigarette filler stream; and a transfer conveyor adjacent to the lower pulley arranged to receive the cigarette filler stream from the band, the filler stream being transferred from the band to the wrapper web by the transfer conveyor near the bottom of the downwardly moving run of the band.
 2. A machine according to claim 1 in which the transfer conveyor comprises a wheel including suction means for applying suction to the filler stream.
 3. A machine according to claim 1 including means defining a horizontally extending channel through which the tobacco is fed towards the band.
 4. A machine according to claim 3 in which the upwardly moving run of the band is inclined to the vertical in a direction such that tobacco moving horizontally through the shower channel has a component of velocity in the direction of movement on the band.
 5. A machine according to claim 1 in which the band, the pulleys round which the band passes, and said suction chamber within the band to hold thE filler stream on the band by suction forms an assembly having rotatable mounting means with a horizontal pivot axis substantially at the center of gravity of the assembly and parallel to the pulley axes for lowering the upper pulley and the upper region of the band to facilitate access to the assembly.
 6. A machine according to claim 5, in which said mounting means comprises axially slideable parts permitting the assembly to slide horizontally along the pivot axis, the assembly being rotatable about the pivot axis after such horizontal sliding.
 7. A machine according to claim 5, including a suction fan and a pipe through which the suction chamber is connected to the suction fan, the pipe having an axis coincident with the pivot axis. the trimmed filler
 8. A machine according to claim 7 in which the pipe is contained within a pivot bearing.
 9. A cigarette making machine comprising an air-pervious band arranged to run around upper and lower pulleys and having an upwardly moving run and a downwardly moving run, means defining a substantially horizontal channel extending towards the upwardly moving run of the band, pneumatic means for showering tobacco through the channel and towards the band to build up a cigarette filler stream on the band, suction means for applying suction through the band to hold the filler stream on the band, trimming means adjacent to the downwardly moving run of the band for trimming the filler stream, means supplying a continuous wrapper web near said lower pulley for enclosing the cigarette filler stream, and a suction wheel for receiving the trimmed stream from the band before the band begins to return around the lower pulley, and for carrying the said trimmed filler stream onto the wrapper web. 